Match



Patented June 20, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,163,009 m'ron' Willimena Pratt, Kalamazoo, Mich. No Drawing. Application 13, 1937,

Serial No..163,680

Claims.

As commonly manufactured, matches are formed of a strip or stick, one end of which is provided with a head containing the igniting substancesuch as phosphorus. Various materials are used for the strip or stick such as wood of various kinds, paper, cardboard, etc. When the matches are ignited in use, objectionable odors are given ofi; these odors are due to the burning of the phosphorus or other substance used in the medium as the match is struck, and are due also to the odor emanating from the burning wood or paper, etc., of the match stick.

An object of this invention is to provide a match in which the objectionable and unpleasant odors above described are eliminated or rendered unnoticeable. It is further desired to provide a match which upon being ignited will yield a pleasant odor of a desired kind.

Another object of the invention is to provide a. perfume-impregnated match which upon being ignited will give oflf a pleasant odor, and which is capable of retaining this quality over a pro longed period of time.

A further object is to provide a method of treating the ,match stick so that upon being burned, the stick will give off a pleasant aroma, even after being stored for a prolonged period of time. It is further desired that the method of making the improved match be simple and capable of being carried out at small expense without resort to rare or expensive ingredients and without need for elaborate special equipment.

In carrying out the method of this invention, the match may be treated for odor at any desired stage in its manufacture, or may be treated after the match, as commonly known, has been completely formed.

Though the inventionmay be practiced in connection with matches having their sticks made of almost any kind of wood, I prefer to use matches which employ paper, cardboard, or such like substances because it appears that the paper match is much more susceptible to the treatment. The greater effectiveness of the treated paper matches is believed to be due in part to the greater ability of the paper to absorb the liquid substance used in the treatment and in part to the peculiar combination of the paper ash and perfume materials upon combustion. Throughout the speciflcation and claims the term paper match or paper stick" will be used in connection with the varietyof matches which employ sticks formed of pulp or which have the characteristics of paper,

cardboard, etc.

The paper stick of the match may of any desired size or form. If desired, the stick may beef greater size. rearward of the head, and in such case the aroma produced upon burning of a quantity of gum arabic, and adding a solvent such as alcohol which acts as a thinner. The oil base perfume may be of any suitable variety and aroma. Perfumes having the odor of rose, lilac, violet, etc. may be used as may be desired. Since perfumes obtained through refinement of coal tar are relatively inexpensive, it has been found desirable to use perfumes of this derivation in the form of an'oil base liquid. The invention may be practiced, however, by using any suitable perfume in liquid form. I For example, the liquid perfume may be prepared by adding powdered perfumed substances to a quantity of clear oil derived from petroleum.

To the liquid perfume I add gum arabic in about the proportion of one part of gum arabic to'fifteen parts of liquid perfume, though the proportions of these ingredients may be varied between wide The gum arabic, as given in the aboveproportions, is itself in the form of a thick liquid. This gum solutionmay be formed by dissolving the gum arabic in dried or powdered form in a suitable quantity of water. I have found that the liquid perfume when mixed with the gum arabic is usually too thick to work well, and to thin the mixture a small quantity of alcohol or other solvent may be added.

The gum arabic does not mix readily'with the oil base perfume liquid, and to insure an intimate mixture 7 during treatment of the matches, the complete mixture may be kept in constant agitation. If desired, a small quantity of a suitable emulsifying agent may be added to overcome somewhat the tendency of the ingredients to separate;

The matches to be treated may be subjected to the above described substance in a variety of different ways, such as by spraying or brushing the mixture on the match sticks. A preferable manner of treatment is to cause the matches to be dipped into the prepared liquid and then allowed to dry. This may be easily accomplished by causing the matches, as they are brought forward on a conveyor in the ordinary process of manufacture, to be dipped, head downwardly, into a container filled with the treating liquid. After being dipped, the matches may be conveyed away and allowed to dry before being packaged. It is usually not necessary or desirable to dip the whole match into the treating liquid, as the base of the match stick is to be held in the fingers and, in the use of the match, is not burned. In some cases it has been found desirable to leave the match in the treating substance for a few minutes or more to allow time for thorough impregnation. During the dipping of the match into the treating liquid, the liquid should be kept in constant agitation so that the gum arabic will not be allowed to separate out and form itself on the bottom of the container. v

After the matches have been dipped and dried they will have a thin coating on their exterior; this coating is believed to consist predominately of gum arabic, and it is believed that thefpart of the liquid whichhas been absorbed into the match is predominately the performed oil ingredient. Thus the gum arabic ingredient acts as a seal for preventing the escape of the perfumed oils which have been absorbed into the body of the match stick. 'Ihe gum arabic also has the quality of counteracting the greasy characteristics of the oil perfume when the match stick is being burned. V

' In the earlier studies and experiments conducted by me the ingredient gum arabic was not used and two major difiiculties were experienced. For one thing, the quality of being able to give off aroma could not be retained in thematch, and soon after the match would be dry, the buming of the stick would give oi! only the ordinary objectionable odors of burning wood, paper, or phosphorus. A secondmajor objection to the product before the use of gum arabic was tried, was that upon burning, the greasy characteristics of the oil base perfume were particularly noticeable. The result was a greasy product which was impracticable and undesirable. Both of the above named objections have been eliminated in' this invention by the addition of the gum arabic to the treating liquid.

In the use of the improved match formed in the way described above, the person may strike the match in the usual way, and the match burns in a manner similar to other matches; that is, the stick is burned by a flame which creeps from the head toward the base of the match, allowing the person to touch the flame to a cigarette or anything else which is to be lighted by the match. However, the person using the match is not aware of the familiar smell of phosphorus which is commonly sensed when a match is first struck; and as the match burns, the person is not aware of the-common odor of burning 'paper or wood, but instead there is evident a,

given for clearness of understanding only, and

no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadlyas permissible in view of the prior art.

WhatIclaimasnewand desiretosecureby Letters Patent is:

1. In a method for preparing a treated match,

the step of dipping the head portion ofsaid match into a mixture containing an oil base liq-,

uid perfume and gum arabic.

2. In a method for preparing a treated match, the step' of dipping a portion of the stick of said match into a mixture comprising approximately fifteen parts of an 011 base liquid perfume to one part of an aqueous solution of gum arabic.

3. A match of the character described comprising an inflammable paper stick provided at its one end with a head containing an igniting medium, a portion of" said stick being impregnated with a perfumed substance, said portion having thereon a coating containing gum arabic for sealing said substance within said portion of the match.

4. A match of the character described comprising an inflammable stick provided at its'one end with a head containing an igniting medium, a portion of said stick being impregnated with an oil base perfume, anda coating containing gum arabic over said portion and serving to seal said perfume within said match stick.

5. The method of treating a match comprising bringing a mixture of liquid perfume and gum arabic into contact withat least a portion of said match, the ingredients of said mixture being easily separable so that a quantity of said liquid perfume is absorbed into said match while a quantity of said gum arabic is retained as a coating on the exterior surface of said match. 

